he tiger, which the
sight of blood unjustly shed had aroused. Sympathy was marked on every
face. Not an unkind word was spoken; but the house must burn. This
general distress must teach the lesson that even _war_ has its limit of
barbarity.

That evening we recrossed the Notaway River, and camped about a quarter
of a mile beyond, where we camped the first night out. Here we were
joined by troops that had been sent down from Petersburg for that
purpose.

A large house, perhaps a tavern, stood near the road, nearly opposite
the site of our former camp. We had not been long in camp till we saw
this house, and the buildings connected with it, wrapped in flames. From
the fact that the place was not fired at once, we supposed it would be
spared. The case was thus explained: When the men first came to the
house, they were informed, on inquiry, that there was no man about. The
woman who seemed to be the mistress of the house, claimed to be a widow.
Investigation revealed a Springfield rifle and the uniform of a murdered
soldier concealed about the premises. This was sufficient. The house was
fired; and, as the flames spread, a man ran out from some place of
concealment, and tried to escape. He received the mercy he had given.

During the night the sky cleared, and by morning the ground was frozen.
You would suppose that the soldiers suffered from the cold. Most of them
slept as comfortably as you would at home, on such a night, covered over
with your quilts and blankets. How was it done? Every man wore an
overcoat, carried one wool blanket, a rubber blanket, and at least one
piece of canvas tent, five feet square. We "bunked" at least two
together, sometimes three. This gave two or three heavy wool blankets,
as many rubber blankets, besides the shelter tents. If the ground was
wet, we put a rubber blanket and a piece of tent under us; otherwise,
only one of these, and the rest over us. Then, with a fire on one side,
and a log on the other, there was no trouble about getting a good
night's sleep. Such were our sleeping arrangements this cold night.

The march of the following day was very trying, because of the roughness
of the ground and the extreme cold. In the evening we arrived in the
vicinity of Petersburg, and took our place on the left of our lines,
rather toward the rear. The loss of the Union forces during this raid
was about one hundred, killed and wounded.

CHAPTER XII.

Our camp was in woods. The groun